Friday, January 11, 2013

Two Portland Gun Nuts Brandish Assault Guns in Shopping Area to Prove a Point

Here's something people need to understand about gun nuts: They
really think the world revolves around them. And they simply do not care
that the loving object of their fetish is certain to inspire fear and
terror, or at the very least profound concern, in every person they
encounter -- and quite reasonably so.

Last summer I went down in the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana, a
tourist attraction wherein people hike in guide-led groups deep into a
spectacular set of caves, not far from Three Forks. About midway down I
noticed that one of our fellow hikers was packing a pistol on a holster
on his hip.

As we emerged from the cave, I asked him why he felt he needed a
pistol to go with a group of tourists into a confined cave where any
shot is likely to ricochet and harm someone. He shrugged and said,
"Well, you never know when the bad guys are gonna do their thing."

I looked at him and chuckled. "Sure, but how the hell do I know that you're not the bad guy?"

He shrugged and smiled. That wasn't his problem.

Obviously, the answer was that I didn't, and couldn't, know that. The only solution was to pack my own semiautomatic.

Which brings us to the most recent demonstration of "gun rights" by a couple of blithering morons in Portland, courtesy of KPTV:

Two men carrying assault rifles on their backs said they
were simply exercising their Second Amendment right, but police said
they scared plenty of people.

Calls started coming in to 911 dispatchers shortly before 2 p.m.
Wednesday. Callers said two men with guns strapped to their backs were
walking through the area of Southeast Seventh Avenue and Spokane Street
in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood.

Officers arrived in the area and contacted both 22-year-old men. They
were carrying rifles openly on their backs and were valid concealed
handgun license holders in Oregon.

The men told officers they were hoping to educate the public about gun rights.

Officers explained that they were likely to continue
generating 911 calls from alarmed people in the area, which would
require a police response. Officers reported neither man seemed
interested in those concerns.

No, of course they weren't interested. It seems not to occur to these guys that brandishing a gun is an implied threat.
In reality, of course, it more than occurs to them -- most gun nuts
positively revel in the fear-inducing power of their weapons. But they
want to make this disingenuous argument -- that people ought to be able
to just walk around with their guns openly and not scare anyone --
because what they really want is to be able to openly display their
manhoods.

This argument also disingenuously pretends that the people in this
neighborhood are being irrational by responding with fear and panic.
Reality check: The last thing most of the victims of the recent spate of
mass shootings saw was someone brandishing a gun in a place where they
would have no reason to do so. Is it a surprise that this sight would
inspire fear? On the contrary, it only makes sense.

But no, the only thing that matters to these fools is that they can
make a statement. Well, they make one, all right: They made irrevocably
clear how utterly helpless and vulnerable ordinary citizens are to the
presence of a gun threat, because the gun-rights lobby has so skewed the
laws that packing an assault rifle into a shopping area will not get
you arrested.

Because to these clowns, brandishing an assault weapon is "peacefully exercising your rights in public":

"Exercising my rights with a rifle to try to decrease the demonizing of
peacefully exercising your rights in public," one of the men told Fox
12. He said his name is Warren, but did not want to provide a last name.

Portland police identified the men as Warren Drouin and Steven Boyce.

Officers said carrying firearms openly is legal in Oregon and
carrying a concealed gun is legal with a valid license. However, doing
one or both may generate 911 calls and possibly tie up resources that
are needed for a true emergency.

Warren said he hoped people would approach them and talk to them, instead of calling police.

"What they really should do is observe the person to determine if the
person is aggressive," he said of seeing someone with a gun in public.
"We're not doing anything threatening to anyone."

The thing is, most gun nuts in fact are acutely aware of the
threatening power of a gun. That's why, if you get them too mad, they'll
pull out their guns and display them prominently (I've seen this happen
several times in cases of "road rage"). Because they know that just
brandishing that gun is enough to make the point.

And that point always is: Back down or I'm gonna shoot you.

And it always works. Almost. Unless, of course, the guy you're threatening has an even bigger gun.

Sara Robinson has worked as an editor or columnist for several national magazines, on beats as varied as sports, travel, and the Olympics; and has contributed to over 80 computer games for EA, Lucasfilm, Disney, and many other companies. A native of California's High Sierra, she spent 20 years in Silicon Valley before moving to Vancouver, BC in 2004. She currently is pursuing an MS in Futures Studies at the University of Houston. You can reach her at srobinson@enginesofmischief.com.